Daniel arrived for his first shift as a page for the Sky Court. A page.

Lordling Elswith had been well regarded in several areas of study, including a keen understanding of mathematics, a smidge of understanding of the ancient language, and a first hand witness with valuable knowledge of dread beasts and prevention tactics. And they made him a page, the universal errand boy. If he had cared, he would have been offended.

Obviously their aim was to humiliate and discredit him. Funnily enough, they could have actually gotten some use from him. Showed the force their displeasure. He spoke several languages, could craft high level magic, could construct glamours and create armor.

Instead, he was sent to fetch quills. From live geese. Oh well, at least the field the geese roamed in was out in the open. He couldn’t see his mountains to the north, though. The Citadel Walls blocked the horizon. The goose boy was instructed not to help him.

This was the first round of punishment. A page could be ordered by anyone. Even an eleven year old goose boy. Who tried to do pranks, but seemed completely harmless. But what if the goose boy was pretending? How could Daniel really know?

“No one takes me seriously!” the child whined. Ah, that was how.

“That is often true when one is immature.” Daniel replied, avoiding cow droppings as he walked.

The child chuffed, offended. He didn’t remain offended for long. “How come you got to pick your harbor name? When I started working here, my mom set up my harbor name. It’s boring. Branch is so cool. Did you really fight dread things? What was that like? What are Dread things?”

Little brat pulled at Daniel’s bindings. Literally anyone could order a page around. Daniel couldn’t wait until he completed this duty today. “Dread things are creatures that are born from chaos, often from human realms.” Daniel was experimenting with how the bindings would compel him. With enough practice, he hoped he would be able to dance around subjects he disliked and mislead conversations. The never ending inane questions served this purpose well.

Daniel saw a long feathered goose. A gander. He gave chase.

The goose boy called after him. “Careful! That one bites.”

Daniel acknowledged the advice, but this was the first time he’d been able to experiment with his body after losing much of the strength he had. He wanted to understand his limits, now that he wasn’t a Lordling.

He chased the goose, feeling his limbs slow and unresponsive. The gander flapped at him, splaying its wings wide. Daniel had had never studied goose warfare. But it was aggressive and honking. It bite him. Daniel could have blocked, he had enough instincts and experience to dodge the fluttering beak.

But he didn’t, because he wanted to know his limits.

And was rewarded a beaky pinching bite on his forearm and a large red welt.

Well, at least he knew he could survive a goose attack. Daniel fluttered away, using the light steps and flowing motions of his training to scurry away and dodge further attacks of the goose. He returned to the goose boy, while the gander honked and strutted arrogantly. Daniel decided he’d try to eat that goose before he escaped. Seemed fair.

He assessed his body. He was stronger than he anticipated. Good. He was worried he’d be much weaker than an average low level solider. But even without all of his power, he could still contend with threats of Geese. The Unseelie court, Ria one of his old Cadre had told him, called Geese a different name: Ducks of Chaos and destroyers of Peace.

At least these Geese were non-magical. Probably. He wouldn't have dared being so bold if they were the magic kind.

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The goose boy was waiting for him, with more benign questions. “So the dread come from Chaos? Like darkness magic? And the Unseelie Realm?”

“Only the dread spawn from chaos. Darkness magic is one of the greatest healing magics, and light magic can be the most deadly. The stories tell it wrong. And the Unseelie Realm isn’t evil. My mother is…”

Daniel paused and frowned. He was about to say that his mother was from the Unseelie Realm. But that wasn’t true, was it? It had never been true. She had been so removed from him that he hadn’t really processed the loss of her.

He had thought himself grown, but this was showing him that he was still very young inside.

He gathered up his sorrow and fueled it to his resolve. He couldn’t crumble here.

“The Unseelie court is like the magnetic opposite to the Seelie Court. Opposite, but not backward. They have a citadel and courts, just like we do. You know the Courts of the Seasonal Divide will gain power as their season comes, and be the weakest exactly at the opposite end, like Summer will be weak during winter. It’s like that, with the Seelie and the Unseelie, one will be stronger than the other for different things and at different times, but it balances out.” Daniel frowned. He had given too much knowledge there, he could have shortened his answer and the bindings would not have enacted. Good to know.

The goose boy appeared a little confused. “Where are the vampires? Are they dread things?”

Daniel walked away, and began to look for feathers that had fallen out. He saw the huge Grand Stable at the far end of this series of pastures. He needed to return to the Sky Court soon, and needed to make a showing. And while he did have several feathers from his battle with the Gander. None were quills, because feathers needed to be processed and carefully cut to become quills. This was an impossible fools errand after all.

But the little goose boy’s question was still pulling on his bindings, and Daniel didn’t completely mind explaining trivial facts. He looked over to the small boy. “The Vampires council has returned to the outer realm. They aren’t dread things. Vampires are our allies, most of the time. They suffer more to dread things than the Fae Courts. Also, don’t believe everything you hear about them. And they don’t drink blood.” Daniel added that last comment when the Goose Boy looked like he was about to ask.

“Oh, really? Then why…” and the child continued to blather.

As Daniel romped through the pasture with the eleven year old pestering behind him asking seemingly benign questions, it allowed him time to reflect and gave an opportunity to practice. He left the answering of the questions to his instincts as his mind wandered.

He thought the encounter at the Servant’s Keep went well.

After his new servant name of Branch was recorded, the other workers came to issue his work orders. He was given dozens of assignments, most of them conflicting. But the three important people behind the desk had actually helped him by refuting the other operatives rights to use him during this initial period. Whether this was good or ill, Daniel did not know.

He had made enemies in the past, but also allies. Would any stand with him now? Could any dare? Or would they fear that they would lose their standings, as Elswith had.

He had received three permanent duties. There may be other duties assigned, in addition, but these had precedence.

Page of the Sky Court, his current duty. Attache to the O’Tells, pending review. And Stable Hand of the Grand Stable.

Today, he would work all three duties. In the future, he assumed he would be attached to a specific duty each day. But he also trusted that they would use the duties to try to hinder him as the Game began in full.

He had five bindings, but only three were put in play. All five would enact if he disobeyed, it seemed, but obeying only lessened the burden on the individual binding, and not all. Dangerous, because he couldn’t work to free himself from the bindings unless it was put in play. But he laughed, because he couldn’t ever really escape from the binding the Lord of the Red Sword held on his heart. His Lordly Father, high fae. Daniel had the enemies he had now because of how the Lord of the Red Sword had manipulated him.

It was almost pleasant out here, with the open air and the chaos birds. He was able to train himself so not be caught off guard by the bindings compelling. He needed to get used to this. So far, he was learning well how to handle any arising questions.

Until the Goose Boy asked an idle question that struck fear in his heart: “What about dragons? Tell me everything.”

An order was given.

An order Daniel was unable to follow. In his heart, the mention of the dragon brought pain more terrible than the tearing of the bindings.

Trauma stays, apparently. He could see the dead and dying again, the trail of destruction. The bindings tried to force him to tell the child what was before his mind.

He would not explain it. The grief in his heart raged: Why had he not been faster then? Why had the smell of blood remained after so long.